The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-05-23


in charge of another. While they are
both violent and dangerous, yet the
fascination of watching II lunatic com.
pletely absorbs the entire attention,
and cat watching mouse does moi
exhibit the carefulness with which
Harkins watched Williams and VIII.
liams watched Harkins Each one
thought the other was as crazy as 6
loon, while he himself was perfectly
sane. After they had been together
about month and had become thor
oughly familiar with each other thciI
hands were freed and they were al
liberty to do what they saw fit. Will.
Jams had delusion that his head wai
q metal ball, and he rolled it on the
floor, taking his body along with it. Of
course. His companion always greet
cd this harmless amusement with de-
rision and scornful laugh, and would
proceed to show some of his accom-
plishments. Being COW, he was an
expert at bucking, and would run al
the wall hard enough to break his
skull. The padding prevented him
from doing any harm. Such an ex
hibition of levity would disgust Will
Jams. They had several other accom-
plishments in their repertoire that
they would show TO each other, all Of
which were manifestations of delusions
of some nature. The effect on the
mind of each was that of sympathy
for his companion, who was so unfort.
innate as to be foolish, and unable to
act reasonably.
But with all their fun, the vigilant
watch was kept up all the time. One
of them could not make a move
that the other did not see. They kept
the motive of their close watch secret
but in time it seemed as if both got an
idea that each was the others keeper
This was shown when
IHE MOhDlD lMfULSE
That impelled to suicide was coming
on. They would inform each other
about it, not in so many words, and
then they would sit closely together.
AS the period of companionshp be-
came longer there was an improvement
noticed in their condition by the at.
tending physician. They ceased to
fight against taking food, and had lu.
cid intervals more frequently. They
took less interest in bucking and roll
ing the ball, and days would pass with.
out either of them showing any insane
antics. A feeling of interest sprang
up for each other outside of the per.
Torrance of duty, and they became
friendly and laxative. Being closely
watched by the attendants, it was
seen, after several months, that the de-
preston that precedes an attempt to
take life in the insane had disappeared
and they were taken from their padded
room into one more cheerful sunny and
light. Other lunatics were with them,
but these stuck together and watched
the strange actions of their fellows
with apparent surprise. They were
given privileges about the place.
Whatever they were told to do they
did without hesitation. The cloud was
slowly lifting from thcir minds, it was
evident. They talked nationally with
the physicians and together. When
Williams was told that he had an iron
head he had no idea what was meant
by it, and when Harkins was told that
he was COW he looked upon it as
reflection upon hls manhood and be-
came indignant. FINALLY they WERE
and placed at work ip differ
ent parts Of the building They were
orderly and obedient, and they met
each other with feelings of genuine
pleasure.
Various tests were tried upon them
for insanity, but there was always a
negative result, They knew where
they were, what was the matter with
the people who were there with them.
but had no knowledge of what their
FORMALLY had been. There
could not be any doubt about the COM
plete restoration to reason and last
week they were both discharged.
Other patients who have a similar
form Of insanity, when the good work
was shown in Harkins and Williams
have been put together. and in every
case there is a marked Improvement,